Guardian Chronicles 8: Next Generation
by StSE
Summary: Armada: A new Gen of Seekers is born, They are thrust into the conflict as the Cons capture some. The Bots come to their rescue. Then they come to the Bots rescue. Prime learns he's a father. Very unexpected ending to the saga!
1. Chapter 1

_They had rescued Raptor, and though unwilling to fight unless backed into a corner – she had willingly helped them as a medic. This arrangement dissolved when Sideways informed the Autobots of her previous existence as a Decepticon warrior queen in her home dimension._

_Since most of the Autobot ranks would no longer trust her - due to her past and her unwillingness to fight alongside them – she struck out on her own._

…_.Yes, I'll get around to finishing those 'connector' stories soon! I promise!_

_**Raptor the character**__; originally started in my Raptor Chronicles. She is an F-22 which was animated by G1 Starscream, and trained in the arts of infiltration, sabotage and assassination. She was animated using a 'human spark'; thus, thinks and feels in a human way – not a Cybertronian way. She has used her abilities of Teleportation to move between 'bubbles' of reality – thus, has ended up in the Armada universe. (A little play on current theoretical physics)_

**The first brood**

The brooding silence of the northern badlands matched the mood of the metal-skinned bird of prey as she circled lazily in the warm updrafts. She transformed and landed lightly on her thrusters, enjoying the stark beauty of the empty land as the sun's dying rays cast a red shade to the barren landscape. The emptiness had been growing within her, since her forced departure from the Autobot camp, and now she seemed to merely exist as a silent observer of the life on her former home world; Somehow, not completely alive in her soul anymore, but not having the blessing of death either.

Within her emptiness, an urge had begun to grow, irresistible and insatiable, beginning to control her every action. The urge to build, to create! Within an abandoned and disintegrating hangar, she had begun to craft new Seekers out of stolen FA-18's, F-35's, MiG-35 and one F-22. The concern of how to animate them had never really crossed her mind; somehow, she felt it would happen. But, in what way, she didn't know.

Strolling into the hangar, she admired the still Seekers, still looking for ways to improve them. The silent, unanimated Seekers staring at her with their unlit optics, as if they approved of her work. She fiddled with the blood red FA-18's circuitry a little bit, then shut the access panel, the metallic clang reverberating from the hangar's rusted walls.

Something within her urged her to connect to the silent Seekers, to bond with their unsparked chassis. She didn't understand why, but the urge compelled her to act.

Opening the access panels of the blue/gray mottled F-22, she connected the cables, along with the power cables to her overcharged port secondary power core. She integrated with the F-22's two computer systems and primary power core, merging her systems with it's. Suddenly, she felt something connect with her own spark, reminiscent of the sensation she had when she had emergency bonded with Prime. Then it seemed to swell within her, becoming a force of its own! Demanding, enticing, growing – then she felt the emptiness of singularity as it split from her own spark and became it's own. Flowing into the new seeker, giving it new life!

The blue/gray Seeker's optics slowly activated, the amber orbs turned slowly and looked into Raptor's. At the same time, she felt the new Seeker integrating with her memory banks and battle processor – downloading, copying, learning.. Raptor hesitantly reached out and ran her fingers gently across the new Seeker's gray face, a smile crossing her own. A questioning look crossed the new one's façade as she reached up and grabbed Raptor's fingers with her own. "_Mother?" _she uttered both as statement and as question.

Raptor hugged her, careful not to interfere with the cables still connecting them. _"Yes, my daughter." _she pulled away, her hands still on the young Seeker's arms. _"Welcome to the world, my love." _her smile and elation coming through her voice and the connection they still had. The new Seeker looked at her mother with the love and affection of a young human child, and then buried herself in her mother's embrace.

After disconnecting from the first, Raptor did the same for the other 5 unsparked Seekers. Sometimes the swelling of her spark felt like the gentle bonding with Prime, other times it had more of the fire of the bonding with Starscream – but each time, it would split into two, with the new spark animating the empty Seeker. Each new Seeker connected with her processors and learning; as she gave them energy from her secondary power cores.

When the sun burst over the horizon, filling the badlands with warmth and life, 6 new pairs of optics joined the first, in their observation of the stark beauty. Some Amber, some crimson. All gleaming with intelligence and eagerness – for life! Interestingly, all of the 'newborns' were femmes. But, Raptor didn't care – after eons of the internal loneliness since the deaths of her human family – she finally had a family again!

Coming out of the hangar, the new Seekers basked in the warmth: Waiting for their mother's solar cells to recharge her depleted power cores. She named them with 'Earth names' as she observed them, for their personalities were so distinct, so beautifully 'human'!

'IceOwl', was the F-22; a gen-5 stealth fighter, her paint still the dull Airforce gray/blue, which would serve to help her avoid radar detection. She was quiet, calm; her amber optics watching her sisters' playful antics with a studious curiosity.

'Falcon', was the medium sized, MiG-35; her paint a brightly gleaming silver/white. Her crimson optics gleamed with excitement as she eagerly jumped into the broods play. An eagerness for the acceptance and approval of her brood mates blatantly apparent from the start.

The 'twin' F-35s, were very similar in temperament. Just like the gen-5 stealth fighter/bombers from which they were made; both enjoyed sneaking up on their brood mates, trying to surprise them. They naturally fell into a team, patiently stalking their sisters together. Their amber optics dancing with amusement when their ruse worked. 'Jaguar' was painted in a deep green shade, while her twin 'Tigress' was in a Deep Blue shade.

The other set of 'twins' were the smaller FA-18's. And like the 'hornet' designation of the fighter/bomber models they were created from – they were aggressive, independent and energetic. Not the least bit intimidated by their larger sisters tackling them. They quickly figured out that they needed to team up together against the larger three, communicating to each other through shifts of their bright ruby optics. 'Yellow Jacket' was the brightest of all the sisters, her fuselage in contrasting black and yellow. 'Wasp' was the shade of blood.

Raptor laughed as she watched the playful antics of her brood, IceOwl quietly sitting next to her. Inside Raptor briefly wondered at how they had been animated without the use of Vector Sigma. Then just figured that it must be similar to that of the organic avians, with her having stored a piece of the sparks of those Cybertronian Transformers she had bonded with. She smiled; glad that this dimension's Transformers were capable of this bonding, and apparently her 'human' spark could react this way. For this could never have happened in her home dimension. She looked into the optics and personalities of her daughters – and quickly realized who the sires of each were. She chuckled, realizing that without thinking, some of the best of both Decepticon and Autobot sparks had been combined with the human spark.

**One year later..**

One year had passed since that wondrous night. With calm encouragement Raptor had taught her brood to fly, to fight, to think, to plan. The three young gen-5 stealth Seekers, learned to utilize their advanced radar arrays, seamlessly sorting and forwarding the important information to the other three sisters. This seamless teamwork was essential for the sister squadron to learn and use, for Raptor knew that this would take them farther than unplanned, reactionary, frontal assault ever would!

They paired off into wing-teams, with Raptor and IceOwl being designated recon and first strike. They were most suited for this with their abilities of stealth, air superiority, endurance and super cruise.

The 'second line' team would be Jaguar and Tigress – for they had the same stealth, but were slower, making up for this with their abilities to seamlessly go from air-to-air to air-to-ground. Their radar arrays specifically designed to penetrate ground targets as well as air. They could easily function as both bombers and fighters, making this team very versatile for infiltration, first strike and sabotage.

The 'third line' team was: Falcon, Wasp and Yellow Jacket – specializing in both air-to-air support and bombing runs, they had no stealth abilities, but greater missile carrying capacities. Falcon was the most agile of the three, her thrust vectoring abilities equaling that of the F-22's; though the max speed of her smaller sisters and their stronger air frames, made them equally as formidable.

Unlike their original designs, the young Seeker's engines had been modified into plasma engines. Along their top sides, small patches of solar cells could be used to slowly recharge with, in the event that there was no energon handy. These modifications had greatly extended the original mission radius which they had been designed for. Now they could fly and play, for several days on end, thousands of miles flowing beneath their wings. Only coming down to bask in the solar radiation, when their power drain reached a certain level.

In their 'ground time'; the sisters learned to play the games of war. Laser tag, wrestling, hide-and-seek, and races were their favorites. Accidentally, the sisters found the aspects of Cybertronian pleasures within their sensory arrays, and added this 'game' to their growing repetra. Raptor did not discourage them from this, for she wanted this 'family' to have the 'open' culture of the Native Americans she once admired; where there were few secrets and pleasure was a natural part of life to be proud of, not hidden. She was crafting a family structure like that of wolves, with herself as the Alpha – the whole pack working together as one, for the survival of all. With mutual respect, love

And support being the glue between them all..

On this particular early morning; the full moon still shining brightly as Raptor chose a place in the deep jungles of the Congo. A beautiful clear meadow in the dry flood plain of the river, made for a good basking ground. She communicated the coordinates to her brood, watching as her daughters came to this morning's 'home', teleporting in, transforming and landing. Yellow Jacket and Wasp came in first, laughing about the winds they dealt with while in country. Jaguar and Tigress, did a flyby before landing. Pouncing happily on their smaller siblings, and wrestling in laughter. Falcon was the next one down, her gleaming white and silver fuselage reflecting the moonlight as she eagerly assisted her smaller sister by jumping on Tigress, getting the green Seeker off of Wasp and beginning a light-hearted wrestling match. She was as eager as her sire; willingly taking on any challenge that showed itself.

The only daughter missing was IceOwl. Who was patiently spying on the Autobots and Decepticons, keeping up with their goings on. She was so like her mother in every way, had most of Raptor's skills, but complimented by a cool, calculating temperament. She was determined to learn to be every bit as good as her mother – for she was now her mother's 'wingmech' – and took her position very, very seriously. Even though her bright siblings continually picked on her, she had chosen to keep the dull gray/blue paint of the Navy on her fuselage.

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	2. Con Captives

Captive

**Chapter 3**

**Dangerous Mistake**

_It had been so stupid! _Wasp thought to herself. She and Yellow Jacket had been playing in the high altitudes, engrossed with their play; they hadn't noticed Thrust watching them. Before they knew it, they'd been hit with heavy fire, not having much chance to counter-attack.

The Decepticons had quickly ripped into their circuitry, removing their ability to radio and teleport. After beating the sisters' unconscious, the cons had taken them to a secret location.

Wasp and Yellow Jacket had come to, in some underground cavern. Understanding that they were in a pretty harsh predicament, they had promised to each other, not to give these Decepticons any information. No matter what happened, the protection of their family was more important than life itself!

**Captive**

Pain laced through her wing as he twisted his fingers through it, tearing apart the sensitive circuitry held within. Nothing more than a grunt left her lips, as she turned any fear she had into cold, sharp-edged hatred for the Decepticon leader. _"So you've got more control than I thought you did, young Seeker." _Megatron gloated, forcing her to look in his crimson Optics. _"We will have much fun in breaking you," h_e taunted._"Of course, if you tell us where Raptor is, we'll be easier on you."_

The hatred welled up in her, the pain just blending in to make it that much stronger. She spat in his face._ "Fuck you!" _Wasp yelled, her crimson optics glaring.

He punched her hard in the face, knocking her across the room. She landed on her side, her hands and legs still bound tightly. She held back her grunt, just glared at him. _"Oh, we have our ways here. Maybe you'll find them enjoyable?" _The big Mech threatened. Then he was on her, opening access panels, fumbling with sensitive circuitry underneath.

Wasp tensed, knowing what was to come. Not allowing herself to fear the forced bonding, turning it into rage. She knew they would take her again and again; it was to be expected once they'd managed to subdue her. Closing her optics, she tried to take her mind to a better place, to leave this agony!

Then she felt his hot spark trying once again to bond with hers, she fought him, engaging her weakening firewall. He slammed his fist into her, again and again, until the pain caused her to shut off the firewall, letting him have access. As his spark flamed through hers, she felt other panels being opened, other Mechs linking to her. Terror welled up within her, as her systems went into forced overload and she shutdown.

**Moral Support**

The agony of her wings shot through her as she slowly rebooted, she could feel the slow dripping of energon coating her intakes from the multiple damaged peripheral lines. Her automatic repair net slowly cutting off flow to the damaged areas and rerouting. She slowly wiggled enough to sit up against the wall, hands and feet still bound tightly. That's when the quiet sobbing filled her audios.

She looked over to its source, and saw Yellow Jacket lying across the room from her. She was curled up, and from the damage, and torn off panels, she knew they had gang banged her twin just as they had done to her. But for all her boastful talk, Jacket was the weaker of the twins, and had always depended on Wasp to make her feel equal. What they'd done to Jacket bothered her more than her own torture – though she'd never let the other Decepticons know this, they'd just focus on the young Seeker even more intensely!

"_Jacket?" _she called to her in a low voice.

"_Wasp?" _Jacket answered between sobs.

"_You Ok sis?" s_he asked.

Her yellow/black wings shuddering, she pulled herself together as much as she could. And tried to nod. _"You Ok?" s_he asked.

"_I'll survive," _came the cryptic reply.

Jacket rolled over and weakly got to her knees. Her hands were bound behind her, but they hadn't bothered to bind her legs – they knew she couldn't fight as well as Wasp. Struggling over to her side, the dejected yellow/black Seeker collapsed, pressing her body up against her twin's for comfort. _"You've got to be strong, Jacket – turn the fear to hate!" _She whispered as she felt her sister's silent sobs resume.

"_I'm not as strong as you! They, they.." _The rest was lost in sobs. She thought she heard Jacket cry for their mother.

She pushed her hip hard against her twin _"Pull yourself together girl! I know it's hard, but you've got to!" _She whispered. She felt the sobs slowing, _"Feel the hate course through you, despise them in your soul. Let this strengthen you. Use the strength of rage!" _She continued to whisper.

"_I'm so afraid. They're going to come back and, and.." t_he young Seeker started to whimper.

"_Yes, they'll come back again and again! So what? Let this build your hate into a storm which feeds your spark! Deaden yourself to the pain." s_he leaned towards her. _"Fear is what they WANT! Do not give it to them!". _

Jacket looked up at her; she could see the terror coursing through those crimson optics. Pity for her sister welled up within her; for inside the bright yellow/black fuselage, Jacket was so weak, so scared. The Decepticons would have an easy time breaking her. Awkwardly in her bonds, she leaned down and brushed her twin's lips with her own._ "I can't tell you that it'll be OK, Jacket – but you have to try to be strong." s_he quietly told her, warmth in her voice. _"I hope Raptor and IceOwl can find us – but we're not at the Decepticons moon base – so they may not find us." s_he sighed in resignation _"We've got to help each other – stay strong." _

_"Raptor.." _Jacket mumbled and whimpered in longing for her mother's warm embrace. She buried her head into Wasp's damaged wing, causing the deep red Seeker to moan in agony. In shock she realized what she'd done. _"I'm, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." _She stammered.

Pain washed over Wasp, she fought it down. _"It's OK, I know."_

_"I'm so scared.." _Jacket's voice shook.

Wasp silenced her twin with tender kisses. She wished she could hold her, could console the weaker Seeker better. But she felt Jacket strengthen a little, responding to Wasp with her own lips, a desperation filling the contact._ "How can you be so strong?" _Jacket whispered, her optics finally cleared from the tears.

She smiled sadly, _"Cus, Mother made us both strong. We've got to help each other stay that way. I keep thinking of what I'm goin' to do to these sloggers when we're free!"_

"_I can't believe our Sire can do this.." _Jacket shuddered. She had seen him just standing there and watching, not helping them! He hadn't joined in with the other Mechs, but just for him to watch, repulsed her!

"_He doesn't know who we are!" _Wasp said with conviction, her voice a harsh whisper. _"And we can't let the sloggers find out! Then they'll just use us and mother to create more!"_

Jacket snuggled tightly against her. Knowing that that would be a fate far worse than what they were currently faced with.

Wasp kissed her helm. _"I'm picturing which of the sloggers I'm going to ram a Sidewinder up his exhaust – first! Who should it be, sis?"_

Jacket smiled, knowing her twin was trying to lift her spirits. _"Megatron, but it'll take two Sidewinders to fill up his pipes! So I'll have to help you."_

They joked quietly about the results of planting various missiles in various parts of the 'cons anatomy, boosting each other's moral and enhancing their developing hatred for these Mechs. Meanwhile, their internal repair systems slowly working on their damaged fuselages.

Together they listened as heavy footsteps approached the door off their cell. But this time, Jacket looked at her twin with hate building in her optics, instead of terror. _"Stay strong, my sister, let rage fill your screams of pain!" _She whispered, Jacket silently nodded, acceptance of what was to come on her face.

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	3. Rescue

**Frustration of a Mother**

Raptor paced back and forth, her frustration giving way to shear rage. The Decepticons had somehow captured Wasp and Yellow Jacket, but that was not the worst of it! No, they had somehow figured out how to keep her from locking onto her daughters and teleporting to them! Picking up a large boulder, she hurled it into the sea. _"Sideways, you son-of-a-trash-compactor!" _she screamed, knowing that only he could've told them how to do this.

IceOwl looked over at Jaguar, _"I hope she calms down and comes up with a different plan soon.." _the deep green Seeker mumbled. For all of the Seekers had drained their power cores to critical levels, as they had searched the moon and the planet earth, for their missing sisters – but there just weren't enough of them to cover every mile of this planet.

IceOwl nodded. _"She will, and they will pay dearly."_

A few hours later, the Seekers were again up to full charge, their solar cells working overtime. Raptor had sat quietly for the last two hours, deep in thought. She stood up, and nodded for her daughters to do the same.

"_Here's the plan.." _she began. _"We will find the Decepticons when they battle the Autobots over another minicon. Coming in fast, we will hit each of them full force; not to fight them, but to mark each of them with a tiny GPS tracking chip. Then Jaguar and Tigress will link with the human satellites and track where the sloggers go. Once we find out their location, then we will scope it out from a distance via radar, create some kind of diversion – and grab Jacket and Wasp."_

The sisters all nodded, it sounded like a great plan!

"_What about the Autobots? If we mark the cons during one of their battles, then we will have to deal with them." _Tigress asked.

Raptor nodded. _"Yes we will. Around them, you will refer to me as 'Commander'. They are not to know that you are my daughters. As long as we aren't hostile towards them, the Autobots should be nothing more than curious."_

**Marked**

The Autobots were fully engaged. As usual, they had warped in around the same time that their opponents had, and now it was the race of who could find the awakening minicon first – and avoid getting damaged by hostile munitions in the process.

The cons had most of the bots pinned down, with Jet Optimus keeping Tidal Wave occupied. Under the cover of the fight, the kids and their minicons desperately searched for the new minicon.

"_Megatron sir! Something's coming in fast!" _Demolisher shouted, his radar picking up a fast jet coming at them from the Southeast, the same direction as the Autobots they were firing at. As they looked up, something slammed into all three of them from behind, causing Megatron, Demolisher and Wheeljack to go flying forward. As they spun, they glimpsed two F-22 Seekers transforming back into jet modes. Megatron got one shot off, burning one of the Seekers along its fuselage. Then the blast of the Seekers' combined afterburners caused the Decepticons to move back quickly, the Seekers quickly getting out of range.

"_Megatron! We are under attack!" _Starscream's voice came over the radio, as two F-35's came at him and Cyclonus, shocking both of them since they couldn't see them on radar! The unknown Seekers, transformed quickly as they rammed the unwary cons, as the cons struggled to regain control over their tumbling forms, the unknown Seekers retransformed in a blur and banked away.

The two F-22's who'd initially gone after the ground troops, split up, going after Tidal Wave from the front and back. One strafed him with small arms fire, causing a diversion, while the other one transformed and rammed into his back, jumping off as he spun and swung an arm, flaming away in jet mode. Tidal wave managed to get a hit on the engine of one, but the unknown Seeker just engaged afterburner on its remaining engine and got out of range.

As the four stealth jets banked off, getting out of range, a large volley of missiles locked in on the cons. Megatron wisely having his troops warped away just before the missiles hit. A MiG-35 roared over as its fired volley hit the cliffs, its wings still bristling with missiles.

**Rescue Plan**

The squadron landed lightly in front of the Autobot position, completely ignoring those Mechs. This caused the Autobots to look at each other in total confusion, but instantly, they recognized one of the mystery Seekers – Raptor.

"_Tigress, Jaguar – link up to satellite now!" _the gray/green Seeker ordered, still ignoring the Autobots approaching them. The paint was blistered off of one of her sides, clearly showing that she'd been on the receiving end of Megatron's glancing shot.

"_Commander, all chips were successfully placed on targets." _a dull blue/gray femme was reporting, she glanced at the approaching Mechs, hoping her 'Commander' was right about them. One of her intakes still smoking from the blast she'd taken from Tidal Wave.

The smaller silver/white MiG-35 femme kept a wary optic on the approaching Mechs, noting that they were looking very bemusedly at each other as they stopped just 30 feet away, and were still being ignored.

"_They've split into two groups. Commander" _the deep green femme reported.

Her deep blue comrade nodded. _"Starscream, Wheeljack and Tidal Wave are now at the Lunar base.."_

"_Megatron, Cyclonus and Demolisher are at these coordinates.." _the green Seeker added, giving the coordinates.

"_Thrust was not among those involved in this conflict." _The blue/gray femme noted.

Raptor considered this for a second. Noticing the Autobots shifting nervously; not understanding the double insignia's on the squadrons' wings, curious as to these new Seekers, and wondering why the hell they were being ignored. She smiled inwardly – _let them sweat a little longer! _Turning towards the two Seekers who were obviously tracking the cons, she nodded to them. _"Jaguar, teleport to 75 miles south of those coordinates, full stealth, recon with both ground and air radar arrays. Tigress, do the same at the Lunar Base. Both of you watch for Thrust since we cannot track him." _

The two Seekers saluted her, leaped into the air, transforming in a blur and ripping afterburners as they disappeared in teleport.

The children ran up, blinking in surprise as the two Seekers disappeared. Excitedly, they ran towards Raptor, ignoring Hotshot's attempts to stop them. Raptor turned, bent down and offered her hand to them, a smile crossing her face; still making sure to completely ignore the Autobots.

Alexis hugged the femme's thumb. _"We've missed you so much!" _

"_It's great to see you again!" _Rad added.

"_So, like, who are your friends?" _Carlos asked, looking at the rather amused Falcon, who was staring back at him.

"_Oh, man, that was so cool the way you guys like whooped those Decepticons!" _Fred added.

Raptor chuckled and winked at the kids. _"It is good to see you kids." _Then she nodded to IceOwl and Falcon, introducing them to the kids as much as the Autobots – who were still rather confused as to why she was acting this way towards them.

Falcon nodded to Fred, grinning. _"And we have yet to 'whoop' them, but that's comin'!" _She flexed her wings, still weighted down with missiles.

Boldly, Scavenger joined their group, realizing that Raptor was playing a mind game with the Autobots. Overhearing Falcon's comment, he nodded to Raptor. _"So, you've decided to join us?"_

"_Scavenger and Red Alert really stood up for you when you left." _Alexis cut in; hopeful this fact would make Raptor more willing to talk with those Autobots.

Nodding to Alexis, Raptor faced the imposing Mech. _"I appreciate that fact, Scavenger. But, no, we're not here to join the Autobots."_

"_Then why are you here?"_

"_Because we knew our targets would show up." _She answered, smiling innocently.

Scavenger crossed his arms, knowing she was purposefully making him almost beg her for information. _"So just why are Decepticons your 'targets'? Last I heard, you weren't getting involved with this war."_

She put the kids back on the ground. _"Oh, we're not joining your war, the cons made the mistake of kidnapping two of my Seekers. So let's just say - it's personal." _

Falcon snickered under her breath, stopping when Raptor shot her a look.

Scavenger cocked his head, so Megatron had found out about Raptor's new squadron, before they had. _Not good_. He turned as he heard Optimus move to stand beside him, the other Autobots also joining them.

Raptor and Optimus locked optics, both leaders gauging the other. _"If the Decepticons are involved; why didn't you contact us for assistance?" _Optimus asked her.

"_Because some of you think I'm nothing more than a Decepticon." _Raptor challenged, noticing some of the Autobots shifted uncomfortably at her true statement.

"_Commander, recon has reported." _IceOwl interrupted.

Raptor turned to her and nodded for her to report.

"_No unaccounted for Transformers located on the Lunar base. Three unidentified Transformers located at the Earth coordinates." _

"_Seems we have found Thrust and our missing wing mates." _Raptor said. _"Details of Earth location?"_

IceOwl frowned. _"200 meters underground in a cavern complex. Jaguar is beginning penetrating ground radar scans to map location."_

"_Have Tigress join her, radar scan from opposite angle. Maintain full stealth and distance" _Raptor ordered.

IceOwl nodded and forwarded the new orders.

Scavenger was thoughtful as he listened to the recon information, studying the reactions of the three Seekers. _"It seems a poor location for aerial assault troops to be effective." _He coolly noted to Raptor. _"Those ground Mechs will tear you Seekers apart in such close quarters."_

Raptor nodded her agreement to him, knowing he was right in his logic. _"True, even with our stealth abilities, our strength lies in the open sky, not in a cave." _she shrugged dismissively. _"But you cannot always choose your battlefield, now can you?"_

He nodded. _"But sometimes you can choose what troops go in." _turning to Optimus he said _"Sir, I would like permission to join Raptor's squadron for this mission."_

Red Alert stepped forward. _"Sir, I would also like permission to join Raptor for this mission."_

The other Autobots shifted uncomfortably, mumbling that it was some kind of trap.

Optimus looked at the two Mechs, knowing they both believed and trusted Raptor. Then he looked back at her. _"They have my permission, if you want their help."_

She nodded with respect for the red Mech. Turning to face the two volunteers; she smiled in unspoken gratitude, both for their support of her when she was forced to leave the Autobot camp – and for their current support.

"_Do we have a good schematic of the location?" _she asked IceOwl, who nodded as she compiled the information that the recon team was sending to her. Raptor noted the damage to the blue/gray femme's intake; _"Extent of damage to your system?" _She added.

"_Port engine fully functional, damage will not affect my performance." _the young femme reported, her voice cool and emotionless. IceOwl projected a 3D hologram of the location, including the current positions of the individually marked Decepticons, as well as the three unidentified transformers. Two of these U.T.'s were together, in a small side cavern, and not moving.

Raptor nodded, pointing at the two. _"These are most likely our Seekers." _Then she turned to Falcon. Opening one of her own access panels, she removed her hologram chip and motioned for the silver/white Seeker to open her panel. Installing the chip, she looked hard at the young Seeker. _"Go to the Lunar base; jam their radar so that they depend on visual, create as much chaos as you can. We need a hell of a diversion. Jaguar will join you and you will begin the diversion on my command."_

The young Seeker saluted her, and then disappeared in teleport. IceOwl had already forwarded the new orders to Jaguar.

"_After some of the cons leave to assist the Lunar base; Tigress, Ice and I will teleport in with you two Mechs. We will create a diversion and keep the cons busy – while you two get our Seekers out." _Raptor looked steadily at the two volunteers, whom nodded their agreement.

As the five winked out of sight, Blurr turned to Optimus. "_Sir, I must admit, Raptor seems like a hell of a tactician. If it's not some kind of trap for our men"_

"_Yes, she does. And lets hope it is not" _Optimus agreed, desperately hoping that it was not just a trap.

**Mission**

Falcon and Jaguar attacked the Lunar base in force; Appearing to be several squadrons of Seekers, with the holograms joining them. The cons manning the base swiftly called Megatron for re-enforcements, believing that they were being overwhelmed.

Patiently, the Seekers and Autobots waited until Cyclonus and Megatron warped up to the Lunar base. Then they all teleported in, Raptor marking Thrust as her target and IceOwl and Tigress marking Demolisher for theirs, the two Autobots rushed down the passages to free the captives.

"_What the?" _Demolisher stammered, as the two femmes appeared and rushed him. Helping each other tackle him. Throwing them off easily, he backed up, firing at them to keep them back. The communication's system behind him was swiftly destroyed by the femmes' lasers. They held him at bay, trying to buy the Autobots enough time to get their sisters.

"_So you finally showed up?" _Thrust challenged Raptor as she appeared in front of him.

Grinning, she spun to kick him, swiftly spinning around as he teleported behind her. _"Yep, guess you cons just can't live without me, huh?" _

He tried to shoot her, spinning as she then teleported behind him.

Their standoff continued, as they danced with their teleportation abilities.

**Rescue**

"_I think they're behind this door." _Red Alert told Scavenger, pointing at the heavy metal door.

The big Mech nodded, transformed, and proceeded to remove said door from the wall. Leaving a gaping hole where it had once been. Transforming back into robot mode, he pushed the rubble aside, as he and the medic entered.

Indeed, two smaller Seekers lay in the room, their arms and legs bound. Their fuselages dented and torn, with old and new energon having leaked from hundreds of surface wounds, both were barely strong enough to turn their heads towards the approaching Autobots.

The Autobots ran over to the two, As Scavenger put his hand on the red one; she shuddered slightly and moaned in fear. Ripping off her bonds, he lifted her small airframe and cradled her in his arms. _"We're Autobots, Raptor sent us. I won't hurt you." _Scavenger told the red Seeker he held. Weakly, she snuggled her helm tight against his armor, her airframe shuddering with her weak sobs. It disgusted him to see what the cons had done to these two.

Red Alert picked the yellow one up, she was not as afraid since she could see his insignia with her one undamaged optic. Too weak to even lift her head, she lay limply in the medic's arms, her leaking energon coating him.

He and Red Alert ran towards the sounds of battle, then they heard Raptor's voice, ordering the femmes to pull back – As Megatron's voice challenged them. _"Sloggers, Megatron's figured out the ruse!" _Red Alert mumbled.

The cavern shook, as the three Seekers released heat seakers toward the approaching cons, covering their backs as they retreated toward the Autobots. As the two Autobots turned the next corner, Tigress spotted them. _"We've got them Raptor!" _she yelled to the other two Seekers.

"_Ok, time to go!" _Raptor said, as she and IceOwl ran up to the Autobots and put their arms around them. _"Hey Tigress, empty your missile bays before you leave." _she ordered the blue Seeker as she and IceOwl winked out of sight with their comrades.

Grinning wickedly, the deep blue Seeker waited until the cons were almost upon her, her weapon bays open and ready. As the Mechs rounded the corner she looked into their optics. _"Here's a goodby from Raptor." _she emptied her missile bays and teleported away.

**Aftermath**

The autobots and kids watched in total fascination as the mountain on the view screen, suddenly seemed to implode with a muffled roar of explosives.

Carlos whistled. _"Boy, Falcon was right when she said they'd really whoop those Decepticons good!" _

Blurr nodded. _"I just hope our men got out."_

Just then, the three Seekers came out of warp phase in the Autobot control room. Raptor and IceOwl stepping back from the Mechs they'd been hugging. Quickly, Raptor scanned the condition of the damaged Seekers – she and Red Alert locking optics, knowing it didn't look good.

"_Jaguar and Falcon are to disengage and meet us here. Ice, you take command while Red Alert and I do what we can for Jacket and Wasp." _Raptor ordered, as she followed Scavenger and Red Alert to the repair bay. The two unconscious Seekers leaving a trail of leaked energon behind them.

Blurr and Optimus looked at each other. _"Sir, it looks like we were wrong about them," t_he blue Mech admitted.

They noticed Tigress's optics narrow suspiciously, but IceOwl put a hand on her arm. Then the other two Seekers appeared behind her. Moderate damage marring their fuselage, but their optics gleaming with victory, not a missile left on any of them.

Optimus faced the blue/grey second-in-command, locking her amber optics as she returned his gaze with a strangely identical one. _"Tell Raptor that we apologize deeply for doubting her story." _he informed her.

The tall blue/grey Seeker merely nodded, then turned and left for the repair bay, the squadron falling in behind her.

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	4. Recovery

Recovery

**Recovery**

"_Hey, Raptor, how are they doing?" _Alexis said as she came into the repair bay.

The gray/green Seeker looked up from the yellow/black femme she was cradling against her side. Still sitting on the table, she ran her hand almost lovingly over one of Jacket's intakes. _"She's finally in defrag, Wasp's been out for an hour."_

"_Been hard on them. Poor things." _the girl said as she climbed up to sit next to Wasp's still form. Rubbing her small hand against the red Seeker's repaired wing. For some reason, when she talked with Raptor, it almost seemed like talking to a human.

Raptor nodded. _"Physically, they will be able to fly with the squadron in just five more days."_

"_But inside?" _Alexis's voice broke, her human expression of sympathy so easily read by Raptor.

The Seeker sighed. _"I don't know when that'll be healed. A lot's been taken from them."_

"_I know." _Alexis said her voice soft.

IceOwl came in, the quiet seeker looking from girl to commander. _"You need a rest, Commander, I'll stay with them." _she offered.

The two changed spots, with IceOwl being equally as gentle in her caressing of the lightly sleeping Seeker. Alexis was amazed at the level of physical tenderness these Seekers showed, it almost seemed like they felt love and compassion like a human family would, and reacted the same way. So different from the Autobots she was used to being around. But as she smiled at the gray/green femme who was offering her a hand to sit in, she realized that nothing about Raptor was the same, and if she'd built all these, she'd built them to be like herself. Inside the girl wondered if that was a good thing.

"_Let's go find my squadron. Hopefully they aren't causing too much chaos." _Raptor said quietly, nodding her thanks to IceOwl.

**Playtime**

"_Ouch! I'm going to get you two for that!" _Falcon laughed, spinning away from the two poles which had just smacked her aft section. Quickly bringing up her scimitars in defense as she warded off another well aimed attack, this time directed at her wing.

Jaguar and Tigress danced around her, whirling in synchronized motions with their energized poles. As a team, they hunted for any weakness in the silver Seeker's defenses, and hit it with instantaneous attacks. Falcon went on the offensive, round kicking as she brought her blades up in a spinning attack on Tigress. In the blink of an optic, Tigress improvised, using her pole as a vaulting stick, she flew up over Falcon's attacking blades, twisting in the air and coming down lightly on her feet behind Falcon.

As her feet hit the ground, she suddenly found herself flying backwards, as Falcon used her spinning motion to carry her full circle. She had anticipated Tigress's move, and countered it with a fast side kick, a grin of satisfaction crossing her face as she felt a solid connection between her thruster and the blue Seeker's cockpit. At the same time, she brought her curved blades up in a cross over her right wing, catching the pole that Jaguar had swung down towards her. Bringing her hands rapidly together, she scissored the pole and ripped it out of the green Seeker's grip. Bringing her blades up, she launched an attack on the now unarmed Seeker.

Claps were heard from above them, causing the femmes to look up. Several of the Autobots had been standing there quietly, watching the femmes' practice, looks of approval crossing their faces. The sisters quickly bowed to each other, the bright glimmering in their optics promising future fun, but they were unsure if they should be doing an exhibition of their skills in front of these Mechs.

"_I do hope my squadron hasn't been causing too much disruption." _Raptor's musical voice filled the room, as she came up behind the gathered mechs.

Blurr nodded to her, his voice cold and calculating as ever. _"I see you've trained these Seekers in your hand-to-hand combat techniques. Very impressive."_

A slight frown crossed Raptor's face as she looked down at her young Seekers; they rather sheepishly put their weapons away. _"A good way to develop balance and coordination." _she said dismissively.

Blurr looked at her steadily, as did Hoist and Scavenger, they knew this went far beyond just 'developing balance'. But for some reason the strange femme still avoided calling anything prep for battle.

She nodded at Jaguar and Tigress. _"If you are done with your play, I need you two to go shopping."_

The two femmes straightened up and looked at each other. _"Standard shopping list?" _Jaguar asked.

Raptor nodded, without saying anything further.

The two femmes saluted her and winked out of sight in teleports.

As Falcon came to Raptor's side, Alexis and the Mechs looked at her suspiciously. _"Shopping trip?" _Hotshot questioned.

Falcon shrugged. _"Just a few things we need, nothing much." _

With that the two of them turned and walked towards the repair bay. Leaving the girl and the Mechs to look at each other in bemusement.

**ReArmed**

The two Seekers were gone for several days, but no matter how they questioned the other squadron members; no one gave any indication of what the two had gone 'shopping' for. This caused much concern amongst the Autobot commanders, since they didn't like a Seeker squadron acting without their knowledge. Along with this strange shopping trip, the Mechs had seen the two remaining younger squadron members in brief spouts of 'play', 'play' which was some rather impressive hand-weapon mastery.

Yellow Jacket and Wasp were repaired and gained physical strength rapidly, but it was obvious to everyone that their confidence was blown. Everywhere the two went, they made sure to have one of their highly protective wing mates with them. With the exception of Red Alert and Scavenger, the two Seekers were obviously anxious about being to close to any of the Mechs. Their optics darted nervously, unconsciously clenching their hands, whenever they entered a room with the other Mechs.

Jaguar and Tigress finally returned, their missile bays overstuffed and even more missiles ratcheted down on the top line of their fuselage. The other squadron members gathered around the two loaded jets, unloading them and joking lightheartedly. Inspecting each type of munitions, and casually tossing it to the Seeker whom decided they wanted it.

"_You've collected a rather impressive assortment." _Blurr stated, as he and the other Autobots watched the spectacle.

Scavenger nodded. _"Your squadron appears to be armed for a full assault, Raptor."_

Raptor grinned, as she finally saw some relaxation in her two damaged Seekers, as they helped each other fully load each of their pylons, feeling more secure now that they were armed. Her crimson optics danced with a strange fire as they met Scavenger's. _"Yes, I doubt any will test us again. Now that we will remain fully armed at all times."_

"_So are you going to join us, Raptor? We will protect your squadron." _Optimus offered.

Raptor turned, looking at the Mechs fully. _"Although we are indebted to Scavenger and Red Alert." _She nodded to those two Mechs, gratitude in her optics. _"With due respect Prime; to join your ranks would put us in greater danger than we are already in. So we must decline, for we can protect our own as long as we stay wary."_

Before the Mechs could say a word, the squadron members saluted the two who had helped rescue them and winked out in teleport.

Fuming, Hotshot slammed his fist into the wall. _"No matter how we help her, Raptor's nothing but a damned con." _he stormed out of the room.

Red Alert looked at Prime. _"Sir, Raptor just doesn't want to join this war. Regardless of what danger her squadron is in. She's no con – at least not here."_

Optimus nodded his expression thoughtful. _"I've just never run across a soldier that is so against fighting in a war."_

Scavenger just shrugged, he really had no answer for that, for he'd never met an entire aerial assault trained squadron, who were so dedicated to a leader who tried her best to avoid combat.


	5. Autobots in Trouble

**Secret Weapon**

"_So, you say this new weapon of yours will put the Autobots out of commission for several astrocycles?" _Megatron pondered the possibilities.

"_Yes, sir, it may even render some of them unrepairable." _Thrust's voice trembled with anticipation.

The horned mech leaned back in his throne. _"I do hope this is not another one of your empty boasts Thrust. Another failure and I may have to make an example of you." _his threat barely concealed.

Thrust shrunk back a little, but confidence in the design that Sideways had given him, made him boastful. _"This is the greatest weapon ever seen. With it, you will achieve the greatness that you deserve my lord."_

"_We'll see Thrust, we'll see," _Megatron mumbled threateningly.

**Disruption**

_The day was like any other at the Autobot base_, Hotshot sighed, completely bored outt've his mind.

"_Dude, you look bored." _Carlos chimed as he found Hotshot.

The yellow Mech snorted. _"Ya, pretty boring around here! I need a Decepticon to stomp."_

"_Hey, why don't we go have some fun or something'?" _the dark-skinned boy joked, always hopeful for a crazy ride.

Hotshot laughed, Carlos could always put him in a better mood. _"Ya, lets go!"_

After leaving the base, Carlos hollered in glee as Hotshot took him on an off-road ride – at breakneck speed! _"Come on man! Can't you do better than that?" _he joked with the Mech. receiving laughter for an answer as the yellow mech accelerated to even faster speeds.

Finally, Hotshot spun to a stop. _"Guess I should contact base, tell them not to worry." _he mused.

"_Ya, dude, probably not much going on since they haven't bothered to radio us." _Carlos said, leaning back in the passenger seat and putting his hands behind his head.

Hotshot radioed base. No reply. He tried again. No reply. _"That's strange, I'm not getting them." _he told Carlos.

"_Ah, they're probably busy workin' on somethin'." _Carlos replied.

"_But Scavenger was on duty."_

"_Oh, that's not good, dude never takes a break." _this made the kid get a little nervous.

"_That's what I was thinking." _the Mech said, turning around and heading back to the base.

As they approached the cave entrance, the other kids and their minicons were flying out of it. Rad began to wave his arms when he spotted Hotshot.

Hotshot slid to a stop. _"Hey, what's up?" _Hotshot asked, noticing the terrified expressions on the kids' faces.

"_They all just fell!" _Alexis stammered in shock

"_And we couldn't get them to wake up!" _Billy added.

"_Who fell? What happened?" _Hotshot asked as he transformed.

"_Everyone! Optimus, Scavenger, everyone.." _Rad exclaimed.

"_They seemed to like faint or somethin', but then they never woke up!" _Fred stammered.

Hotshot ran into the base, not truly understanding what the kids had told him. True to their words, every Autobot in the base were lying in crumpled heaps on the floor, unconscious and completely unresponsive.

Not understanding what had happened to his friends, Hotshot just didn't know what to do. He was no medic! He couldn't repair them! But he dragged each of his friends into Red Alert's repair bay, and stared blankly at the equipment there. Not having the first clue about what he should do.

Alexis wandered in, tears in her eyes as she looked at all her friends laying there. She saw the confusion in Hotshot, knew he didn't know what to do. _"Raptor's a medic, maybe she could help?" _she asked, knowing that Hotshot still didn't like the Seeker because her entire squadron refused to join the Autobots.

Hotshot punched the wall in frustration. No matter what Red Alert and Scavenger said, he still felt like the Seeker was a traitor! The fact that she had somehow built six more Seekers to keep her company did nothing more than to aggravate him further. Since she had built all of them for combat, yet, none of them would join the Autobots. Even when they had helped the Seeker Squadron rescue two of their members from Megatron!

Alexis watched Hotshot, knew how he felt about Raptor. _"I know you don't like her Hotshot. But you know she'd help if you just asked her."_

"_But she's a damned Decepticon through-and-through, regardless of how she changes her insignia!" _he grumbled, knowing that Alexis was right, but it was killing him to admit it!

"_But she's always been sure to pay back her debts. And she owes the Autobots for saving her two Seekers." _Alexis replied, in her heart she truly trusted the gray/green Seeker, even if the femme and her squadron never joined the Autobot ranks.

He put another fist print into the bulkhead, the silence of the other Autobots seemingly ordering him to contact her. _"Ok, you ask her."_

Alexis put one of her hands on his leg, trying to comfort him in her human way. As he looked down at her she said, _"It'll be ok, Raptor will know how to fix them. I'm sure of it!"_

As the girl left for the control room, Hotshot leaned against the wall and looked over his friends. _"I sure hope so, Alexis." _he said with a heavy voice.

**Assistance**

Raptor noticed Hotshot trying to hide his animosity towards them, as her squadron came out of warp phase and appeared in the command center. She had received a disturbing email from Alexis concerning a strange occurrence at the Autobot base, an occurrence that was all the more disturbing since it was so familiar to her. So she and her squadron had arrived immediately.

She nodded to the yellow Mech, determined to keep things at least polite between them. The kids all ran to her, hugging her legs and explaining everything. Unfortunately, they were all explaining at the same time, so she couldn't understand any of it. _"Jacket, Wasp – please pick these kids up so that we don't step on them." _she ordered. The two Seekers nodded their understanding that they needed to keep the kids outt've the way.

So with the kids reasonably quieted, Raptor faced Hotshot. _"So what happened?"_

"_Don't know, I just came back and they were like this." _he said stiffly.

She nodded, if it was what she suspected; if he had been here, then he'd be in a similar state as his friends. _"Falcon, stay here and watch for any hostile activity. I want everyone to keep their shields on full."_

"_Commander?" _IceOwl queried, her tone indicating her confusion as to why they should waste that much energy – when there was no battle.

Raptor looked at her wingmech. _"If it is what I'm thinking, if the Decepticons hit this base with the Harmonic Disruptor again – Our shields will only give us 30 seconds to react. Without our shields, we will be in the same state as the Autobots are in."_

Carlos whistled.

"_You've seen this before?" _Alexis asked her eyes wide.

Raptor nodded, and then figured she might as well be straightforward about her history with this type of weapon. _"I've seen it, because I built one similar to it – eons ago. I suspect that Sideways has given Thrust the schematic for it."_

Hotshot's optics brightened in distrust again. Before he could open his mouth, Raptor stopped him in his tracks. _"Now you understand why I don't join this war? I was truly the 'queen of destruction' long ago." _In his optics, she could see that he understood her statement for the masked threat it was. _"Now, show us where they are, and then we need to leave this premise as soon as possible!"_

Tigress whistled as they entered the repair bay. _"That Disruptor sure does quick work of them!" _

"_Not even a twitch!" _Jaguar said, bending down and shaking Hoist slightly.

"_It works by first jamming the harmonic signals within their Meta processors, and then it causes them to scramble their own frequencies." _Raptor explained as she examined the prone Autobot medic.

"_Can you fix them?" _Hotshot demanded.

Raptor nodded. _"I think so. I don't really have the equipment on this planet to do it, but I think there's a way we can use what is within us."_

No one really understood what she meant, but they followed her orders. Since Raptor and IceOwl were the largest of the Seekers, together they grabbed the arms of three prone Autobots – with the other Seekers grabbing one. Hotshot grudgingly allowed Yellow Jacket to put her arm around him – as the Seekers prepared to teleport the Autobots to an unknown location.

"_Please take us!" _The kids yelled, as they ran into the bay; the Autobots' minicons jumping lightly onto the Seekers' intakes.

Raptor looked at the children. _"We will be back soon; I need you kids to keep up with the happenings here. Email me if the Decepticons choose to take it over. But stay hidden!" _

The kids cried as the Seeker squadron disappeared with their friends.

**Repairs from Within**

The waves made a steady crashing sound against the sheer cliffs of the small island; its calming effect somewhat ruined for the pacing and mumbling of the impatient, distrusting yellow Mech.

Jacket went to talk with him, but Raptor grabbed her arm. _"Leave him be."_

She had her squadron lay the Autobots on their backs. Then she went from Mech to Mech, seeing just how much disruption had occurred within their Meta processors. Unfortunately, not a single one of them would be able to self-repair. So they would all have to be repaired by the Seekers.

Sitting on her knees, Raptor debated on the best way to go about this task. From her experience with Prime, she knew that she and her daughters had the ability to bond with the Cybertronian autobots, integrate with their systems, and use their own repair systems to re-align, re-configure and harmonize the Mech's Meta processors. But convincing her daughters to do it, and convincing Hotshot to allow it – was an entirely different matter.

She ordered them all to sit with her, including Hotshot in the circle. As she emotionlessly explained what needed to happen, she could see the anger building within the Mech.

He stood up in rage. _"How dare you Seekers even think of bonding with them!" _then he looked straight into Raptor's optics. _"Over my burnt-out chassis!" _he stormed off toward the cliffs.

IceOwl moved to get up. Raptor motioned for her to leave him be. _"No, I think I could change his mind." _the gray/blue Seeker said quietly. Raptor nodded, allowing her to try.

The Seekers watched as IceOwl and Hotshot talked for a long time. Their voices blown over the ocean, so no others heard what was said. Finally, Hotshot nodded to her. Then he stomped off, around the cliffs and out of sight.

She came back to the Seekers. _"We have permission." _was all she said.

Raptor nodded, knowing that Hotshot had left because he couldn't stand the thought of watching them do it.

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	6. Pairing and integration

Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 **

**Pairing**

Carefully, Raptor paired the Autobots with the Seekers – based on temperaments. She didn't want the Autobots to become half-lucid and then freak out over the unwanted bonding.

Yellow Jacket was paired with Red Alert, for Raptor knew the young Seeker was still traumatized over the forced bondings she had endured with the Decepticons. She had faith that the medic would keep his cool, and even help Jacket overcome her internal trauma.

Wasp was paired with Scavenger. Though she didn't appear to be as traumatized as her twin, Raptor suspected that there might still be some internal strife. Scavenger was a calm, experienced Mech, so she had the same faith in him, as she had in Red Alert.

She warned both of these young Seekers, to let the sparks of these two gentle Autobots, to fill their very souls. For if they were carrying unwanted hybrid sparks, maybe this would overwhelm and destroy those sparks – replacing them with ones that the sisters could love. Energon tears welled up in the twins' optics, for they understood that this might be their one chance to make sure they didn't carry the sparks of rape.

Hoist went to Jaguar, Sideswipe to Falcon, and Jetfire to Tigress. Raptor knew that most of these Autobots were fairly reasonable, but cautioned these daughters that they may have a little work in keeping them calm, once their Meta processors were half-way descrambled. She gave them some advice on different ways to keep the Mechs calm.

Because of Blurr's instinctive hostility towards the seekers, she assigned him to IceOwl. Not only was IceOwl larger, but she was proving to have a natural knack in calming down irate male Mechs. She'd need every skill she had to keep him calm.

Since Optimus was the sire of half the Seekers, but still didn't know it. Raptor felt it would be highly awkward to ask any of the young Seekers to integrate with him. So once again, she would have to do an emergency bond with him. Inwardly, she grinned at the irony.

They removed the face masks of those Mechs that wore them; this would make gauging their emotional levels, easier.

As a unit, the Seekers straddled the prone Autobots, making sure to lock down the Mechs' arms with their legs. They had to ensure that the integrated repairs were fully complete, before allowing the Mechs to disconnect, whether the Mechs agreed to it – or not. Then the femmes connected the bonding cables from their lower ports, to the Mechs' lower ports.

**Integration**

As Raptor connected the cable, she felt the soft familiar pulse of Optimus's spark. It was strong, unlike the last time she had bonded with him, and her spark was drawn to meld within it. She gasped as he drew her into himself, the warmth of his spark surrounding hers. As she gasped, she heard others around her, in this surreal reality; she knew that her daughters were going through the same thing she was.

Fighting to keep her mind about her, she mumbled for her daughters to remember to focus. Then she was immersed within the dual reality of the bonding, sensing his total confusion within his Meta processor. She felt weight across her hips and arms, realizing that her sensory circuitry was fully integrated with his.

She allowed him to draw her into his Meta processor, his desperation to end the confusion leading his spark to grab onto her rationality. Opening up to her, he threw down his firewalls, begging for her rationality to create order.

Slowly, she began at his core processes, re-aligning and harmonizing them to the sensory arrays they were bundled with. Feeling his body stiffen, she looked down as his optics activated, but from her integration with him, she knew his cognitive functions were still disrupted. He rocked his head from side to side, disoriented, confused, but now physically able to respond.

Quietly, she warned her daughters that they were nearing the most dangerous part of the process. The Mechs' could now move, but weren't fully cognitive.

To calm the red Mech she was integrated with, she opened several of his access panels, running her fingers across the sensitive circuitry beneath. He trembled in instinctive reaction to the sense of pleasure this created, though still disoriented, she felt him relax and accept the contact. Her spark dove further within him, matching the intensity of his spark. He allowed her into the deepest portions of his Meta processor, where his personality, memories and logic were stored. She felt him stiffen again as her spark entered, again calming him with the gentle strokes of her fingers.

Glancing around, she noticed that most of her daughters had made it to this phase. Just as she was, they were keeping the Mechs calm by using the sensory pleasure stimuli. IceOwl was the only one having issue, for Blurr was instinctively a loner in this manner, and fighting the stimuli. Raptor met IceOwl's optics, and then reached her free hand over to the blue Mech lying next to her; she showed her daughter some of the most sensitive circuits within the joints of the ground Mechs. IceOwl smiled and nodded as she felt the smaller Mech instinctively relax. _"He's a hard one." _She said quietly to Raptor.

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	7. Integration cont

Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Integration - continued**

Raptor returned her attentions to the red Mech beneath her. Her processor was now going through his files; sorting, defragmenting, aligning, and harmonizing. Her analysis told her she was now at fifty percent harmonized and progressing well. _"Raptor?" _He mumbled, his confusion beginning to clear, his access to his own memory files less hampered.

She gently touched the side of his face. Often she had wondered why he and the other mask wearers chose to hide their faces, for they were all fairly decent looking under those masks. She ran her fingertips over his lips, quieting him. _"Ssshh, you're going to be alright. Just relax Prime, just like before." _She felt him tense up again, and once again, she used sensory stimuli to calm him. This time eliciting a soft moan from him.

Other mumbles and quiet moans filled the island breeze, as her daughters all got their 'patients' past the half-way point, each femme thinking fast and keeping the Mech beneath her, calm.

Optimus's optics cleared as she passed the 75 percent point. _"You can get off my arms, I won't fight you." _He murmured to her, a faint smile passing his lips. She shifted, knowing that he was cognitive enough now, to fully understand what was going on.

Unfortunately, from the sounds of it, not all the other Mechs were being so reasonable. It was becoming harder and harder for some of the Seekers to keep a few of the Mechs calm. But, if they stopped now, the Mechs would have continual processing glitches for years to come. Blurr was being the hardest, with only IceOwl's larger size able to keep him from moving.

Prime looked over at Blurr, understanding that the femmes had to finish their work, but also knowing that the blue Mech wasn't the most tolerant of this type of internal contact. _"Blurr, stay still, that's an order." _he quietly told the Mech, who simply nodded to his Commander, and complied.

Raptor ran her free hand to another one of Blurr's joints, her thin long fingers able to stroke the sensitive circuitry underneath. He tensed, fighting the pleasure stimuli. _"Blurr, relax, enjoy the bonding, it will make the process go much faster and smoother." _Raptor told him, her voice low with the pleasure she felt from her bond with Optimus. Then she shifted her touch on the smaller Mech, showing IceOwl where one of his most sensitive arrays lay. The blue Mech bucked under the blue/gray Seeker, as the two femmes' fingers slid between his alternate mode body and side armor, easily accessing the sensory grid that lay there.

IceOwl smiled at him as she felt him relax, unable to resist the stimuli of that sensory grid, allowing her spark further into his Meta processor. Then suddenly, the young Seeker felt the Mech's spark fully bond with hers, his hidden conflicting emotions, flowing into her; his spark pulsating with the waves of electrical shocks going through his chassis.

Even Raptor was surprised as the blue Mech shuddered violently, in acceptance of both the bond and the stimuli. Arousal flooding across his façade – wiping away all traces of his emotional coolness - his harsh blue optics softening as he looked into IceOwl's, his spark silently begged her to never tell what she now knew. Slamming into hers with a strange desperate fury, IceOwl calmly moved Raptor's fingers from the blue Mech. _"He's fine now." _Her amber optics soft with the bonding. She shifted her legs, releasing Blurr's arms, an unspoken agreement between their sparks.

An expression of satisfaction crossed Prime's face as he noticed his comrade gently rubbing his fingers on the young Seeker's thighs. Completely allowing the bonding to continue, and from the sounds of it, the other Mechs had also settled down.

He turned his optics to meet Raptor's. His mind continued to clear, as they passed the 85 percent point. No, he had never wanted to bond with any other than Jetfire, but now he'd bonded to this Seeker twice. Both times, he had enjoyed the intense pleasure of that bonding, but she had not. Running his hands up her legs, he gave her a questioning smile, his spark pulsating against hers. A knowing smile crossed Raptor's lips, and she nodded her permission. Gasping as his knowledgeable fingers ran along the groove where her wing joined her fuselage.

A low chuckle nearby, caused Optimus to turn and look, he met Jetfire's brilliant optics. _"Kind've reminds me of the days before the war." _the shuttle winked at his bonded. _"But I was teachin' ya back then, guess I'll still be teachin' ya now." _ With that, he ran his white arms around the deep blue Seeker straddling him, making Tigress arch her back as she shuddered. A devilish look crossed her face, optics brightening as she eagerly made him shiver in response to her own touch. The fiery young Seeker was now having some fun with the old Ace, and thoroughly enjoying the necessary bond as much as he.

Raptor looked at him quizzically, _"All the eons I've spent around you Mechs, I will never understand this complete lack of jealousy." _

Sitting up, the red Mech ran his fingers lightly up her sides. He brought her helm close to his. _"I love him, but I'm not about to be out done by him." _he whispered, his amber optics gleaming. Then he took her lips with his own, enjoying her shivers as he ran his hands across her sensitive wings.

"_Now you're playin' dirty." _the white shuttle joked. Whistling as Tigress mumbled something quietly into his audios. He chuckled. _"Damn Raptor, you're a hell of a builder!" _he commented, and then Tigress silenced his continual comments with her lips, tracing his wing sensory arrays with her fingers, causing him to buck beneath her.

The deep blue Seeker chuckled, and looked at Raptor. _"I'll keep him quiet, well, sort of." _ True to her word, he couldn't speak again, but he was far from quiet!

Raptor grinned devilishly and looked over at Tigress, explaining to the young Seeker just where the power link connections were located on Jetfire. As she talked, she slid her long fingers to Optimus's shoulders, sliding them under the access panels covering his matching link connections. The red Mech spasmed against her as the powerful sensations flowed through his chassis, his fingers clenching painfully on her thighs as he fought to keep from screaming. Tigress grinned at her mother, as she elicited the same reaction from Jetfire, who didn't bother to stifle his screams of ecstasy.

As she moved her fingers from his power links, the red Mech's optics gleamed with both desire and laughter, cocking his head slightly. Raptor laughed, understanding what the quiet Mech meant. _"You two are really a piece of work!" _she whispered in his audios. He simply nodded his agreement while he ran his fingers across her wings again, causing her spark to pulse even stronger against his. She gasped as he nibbled on her intake, her air flow fluctuating. _"He's right, you do play dirty." _she whispered hoarsely, barely able to control her intakes, another shudder ripped through her as he went back to the wing/fuselage seam.

As the reactionary spasms from his touch coursed through her, Raptor was barely aware of her processor completing its final scan of his Meta processor. He was now fully synchronized again, so her task was now complete. Shuddering with pleasure, and not really wanting the integration to end, she hesitantly grasped the connection cables to disconnect. His hand encircled hers, refusing to let her disconnect. _"You did that much too soon last time." _he whispered. For like most Autobots, once he was this aroused, he needed release, and he could feel the same need within her spark.

Encircling her in his strong arms, he gently shifted them both until she lay under him. Being a ground Mech, he was built heavier and stronger than her; easily trapping her beneath his bulk. Again he stroked the sensitive arrays within her wing, causing her to buck beneath him. Her spark flaming hotly against his, as she responded by slipping her long fingers beneath his grill, he reached down and unlatched his codpiece.

As she felt his fingers grope for her latches, she grinned and stopped him with her hand.

His optics questioned, for he could feel her need as her spark pulsed hotly against his. Then he felt her slip her deft fingers into his exposed circuitry, causing another wave of crushing pleasure to wash over him. Biting down on her intake, he again fought his screams, his spark slamming into hers. As the spasms subsided, he ran his fingers under the seam of her cockpit, knowing some of the most sensitive Seeker arrays ran along there. In satisfaction he felt her arch up against him, unable to contain her own moans of ecstasy. Before she regained control, he unlatched her codpiece and slipped his fingers within, stimulating her most sensitive array. He felt her wrap herself around him, responding to the powerful waves he created, her spark exploding into his with sizzling heat.

At that moment he initiated the second bond connection between them. She arched her back, thrusting her hips against his, deepening the second connection between those circuits. The circuit fully complete, the immense power from his core coursed through her, her own high-energy Seeker systems easily handling the incredible flow, the sound of her intakes increasing with the intensity. Causing it to blend with her own cores, pulsating as one. She felt the incredible pulse of the matrix within him, her spark expanding with his. Throwing her head back, she no longer could contain her screams of pleasure.

As her power cores integrated with his, a shudder again ripped through him as the hot energy of the Seeker bolted through his systems, serving to heighten his need for release, his engines roaring with the shock of the energy flow. He crushed her lips with his, his full weight slamming against her, as his fingers danced along her port bay array – feeling the electrical charges dance through his chassis as her fingers dug into his sensitive power link arrays.

As one, their sparks exploded in a fury of energy, coursing through their systems, overloading every circuit.

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	8. Youthful pleasure

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Youthful Fun**

Feeling something slam into her side; Raptor rebooted quickly, feeling the imposing Mech's bulk still pressing down on her, his engine idling in almost a feline purr, his helm resting gently against one of her intakes. Bending her legs further, she instinctively squeezed them against his thighs, enjoying the sensation of his hips still locked against hers, the full circuit still complete between them. With half-open optics she glanced around her, noticing the bright silver edge of Falcon's wing was what was digging painfully into her side.

The young Seeker and Sideswipe were laughing together, both of their optics shining brightly with desire. They were twisting as they wrestled, Sideswipe trying to keep hold of her hands. Meeting Raptor's dazed optics, Falcon laughed. _"Damned Mech won't let me disconnect the link, even though I'm done with his Meta!" _

Raptor smiled and chuckled. _"Neither would the rest of them." _she said, nodding to the slowly rebooting red Mech trapping her under his bulk. _"Guess you'll just have to show him that we indeed, know how to have fun?" _

Falcon's optics sparkled with anticipation. For Raptor had just given her the ok to do whatever they wanted to! Looking into Sideswipe's eager optics, a devilish grin spread over her face. _"Ok, damnit, you win!" _

With that Sideswipe let go of her hands. Pressing his chassis down on hers, he smashed his lips eagerly onto hers, His youthful desire pressing him to fulfill his needs.

Falcon was just as eager, their brief wrestling match had only served to heighten her interest. Swiftly, she reached down, fumbling with his latch. Stopping as she felt her mother's hand touch her arm.

The younger pair looked at Raptor in surprise, the older femme chuckling at their youthful eagerness. _"It's far more fun if you slow down and tease the hell out of each other first." _she winked at them both. _"But have fun however you wish; just quit smashing into the rest of us with your wrestling."_

The young couple looked at each other in amusement. Sideswipe kind've surprised that the femmes Commander gave them advice like this, but Falcon deciding that it sounded like some rather, fun, advice. Wrapping her arms around the Mech, she rolled them away from Raptor, ending up back on top of him. Hesitantly, she ran her fingers lightly across his chest armor. Then she heard some of the older Autobots laugh as they glanced over at the young pair and joked about where the more sensitive areas were on a ground Mech.

Her crimson optics grinned mischievously as she took their advice. Causing the young Mech to buck and scream uncontrollably under her teasing hands. His spark slamming into hers as his desperation for release grew in magnitude.

He again wrestled with her, finally getting her back under him. But as he fumbled hastily with his codpiece, he heard Jetfire joke that he wasn't done yet – he needed to make the silver Seeker as desperate as he was! Then the shuttle told him where the best spots were on a Seeker, Tigress mentioning a few other areas, giggling as the old Ace tried those areas out on her own fuselage. Sideswipe calmed his own needs, his optics glittering with a devilish gleam, as he began to pay back Falcon for the merciless teasing she had done to him, his desire increasing, even as he made her beg him for release.

As one, the young couple desperately unlatched their codpieces and completed the full circuit between them, screaming in youthful ecstasy as they shuddered in release.

As they collapsed together in overload spasm, several chuckles were heard from the older Mechs, many commenting on memories of their own youthful pleasures.

--

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	9. Healing shattered sparks

Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Healing Shattered Sparks**

**Wasp**

Raptor met Scavenger's optics, and he nodded to her as she smiled in approval, his massive bulk dwarfing the deep red Seeker straddling his lap. But the imposing old Mech was beautiful to watch in his gentleness towards the damaged young Seeker. Circling her hand with his, he shook his head as she went to disconnect their link. Her wings visibly trembled in both anxiety and anticipation, but the old Mech calmed her with his knowing touch.

Controlling his own need for release, he carefully encouraged Wasp to initiate the deeper contact; slowly building up her confidence to handle a second connection and the resulting full circuit.

Hesitantly, Wasp met his lips, becoming more forceful as she allowed herself to seek the release she needed, to trust this imposing Mech. His touch on her sensitive wings was gentle, soothing, breaking past her fear of a ground Mech's touch. A smile passed over his tough façade as he felt her fully relax, fully trust him – he knew the damage that the cons had done. He had carried her almost lifeless fuselage out of the dungeon that he had helped rescue her from. Whispering in her audios, to trust him – for he would never hurt her.

Wasp faintly heard the advice that other Mechs had directed toward Falcon, and lightly ran her fingers across Scavenger's access panels, her optics questioning, asking for his permission. The big Mech opened the panels and guided her trembling fingers to the sensitive circuitry he had exposed, showing her how to stimulate him further.

His large frame shuddered with the need for release, but still he held back, letting her set the pace.

Then he felt her small hand take his, directing his touch to the interior circuitry lining one of her side weapon bays. The Seeker shivered as he gently stroked the array, sending lightning bolts of energy shooting through her. Her lips smashed against his, as she pressed her small frame into his bulk. As she released his lips he whispered. _"I'll never hurt you Wasp." W_ith his free hand he gently rubbed the side of her helm as she collapsed trembling against him; her need for release starting to overcome her fear.

He felt her hand wrap lightly around his, guiding his touch to her codpiece, a desperation filling her crimson optics. Taking her lips gently, he unlatched the protective covering, gently accessing the sensory array beneath. He felt her shiver in both fear and desire as her grip tightened on his tracks, her optics begging him as she hesitantly slid one of her hands down to his. Stopping her with one of his hands, he gave her a questioning look; he wanted her to be sure.

She nodded, as she fumbled with his latches, shifting her hips, forcing their exposed circuitry to touch, to connect, to complete the full circuit between them.

Wrapping his strong arms around the smaller Seeker in his lap, his engines revved as the high energy from the Seeker's cores flooded into him. He heard the rush of her intakes as his own cores flowed through her. Taking her lips again he crushed her to him as they climaxed together, their combined sparks flooding in violent waves of raw energy.

Raptor smiled at the beautiful spectacle of the healing within her red daughter.

**Yellow Jacket**

Red Alert noticed the silent communication between Raptor and Scavenger.

As Jacket had silenced the confusion within his Meta processor, he had begun to realize just why he and Scavenger had been paired with these two Seekers. For they were the ones who had helped rescue them, carrying the two battered and raped Seekers from the hell they'd been in. When he had repaired the brilliant yellow/black Seeker, the pain within her optics had just torn him up inside. The tough medic had never seen that kind of internal damage, and it had bothered him that he had no way of repairing that.

But Raptor had now given him that opportunity.

As Yellow Jacket finished her final scan through his Meta processor, he had gently stopped her from disconnecting. He saw the confusion and terror whell up in her optics. Gently rubbing the energon tear from her cheek, the medic gently kissed her. _"I won't force you. We'll go at your pace Jacket." _he murmured as he ran his fingers gently down the seam between her wing and fuselage, causing electric pulses to spread through her. Hesitantly, she responded by slipping her thin fingers under his shoulder armor, stroking the sensitive circuitry underneath. He nodded slightly, encouraging her to explore.

Allowing her to explore his sensory arrays, he held back his own urges. Only letting his fingers trace her main wing networks. Shivers ran through him, as she became less hesitant and went into his more sensitive arrays. Finally, he saw her smile as she relaxed with him, her spark pulsating with reawakened needs. Pressing her lips against his, she brazenly fumbled with the latches holding his codpiece in place, slipping her thin fingers into his most sensitive array as she lay down on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, smashing his lips against hers, as her touch caused him to spasm in response.

His need for release was becoming overwhelming, yet he resisted. Knowing that he could not force this damaged Seeker, knowing that would ruin her forever. Cautiously, he touched his fingers to her portal array, gently stimulating it as she relaxed.

Her crimson optics met his; he could still see fear and hesitation there, even as she fumbled with her own codpiece latches. He kissed her gently. _"We don't have to." _he whispered in her audios, even as his spark jumped in excitement at the anticipation of release.

"_I… I want to." _she stammered, the excitement in her own need for release, mixing with her fear of fully bonding with a ground Mech. But his calm patience with her, and the fact he was encouraging her to be the one in control – bolstered her confidence.

Her energy flowed hotly through him as she initiated the second connection, completing the circuit between them. Desperately, the medic controlled his own power flow into her, not wanting to overwhelm the Seeker's fragile acceptance of the bonding. He felt her press her lithe airframe into his chassis, as her timid spark fully bonded to his own. Carefully, slowly, his strong spark enveloped hers – lending its strength, its warmth, its confidence. Her lips pressed down on his, desperation for the contact, for him to drown her fear with his strength. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her even more tightly to him as their spark's combined and filled their frames with the sparkling energy pulsations of a complete bonding circuit. He washed her fears away as they overloaded in the mutual release.

**Satisfaction**

Raptor stroked Optimus's hood, as he slowly rebooted. As one, they silently watched the beautiful spectacle of the two damaged Seekers – being made whole again under the experienced hands of the two gentle Mechs.

Taking his lips one last time, her crimson optics bore into his soul. _"It seems that once again, I'm indebted to the Autobots." _she murmured. Her fingers danced as she slowly disconnected the links between them.

He rubbed her cheek gently, still keeping his bulk pressed on her. _"I think we are now even, Raptor." _he quietly replied. Nodding to the unconscious pair lying next to them, both of them noting Blurr's expression was finally that of peace, even as he was embraced in IceOwl's arms.

Not really wanting to get off of the lithe Seeker, the red Mech had to ask her one more thing while he had her effectively trapped. _"Will we ever convince you to join our ranks?"_

Her sad smile gave her answer.

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	10. Prime is a father

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Sunset**

"_A beautiful end, for a beautiful day." _IceOwl said quietly, watching the flames of the sun turn the cirrus clouds into wondrous shades of pink, orange and red.

Falcon nodded, stretching in that feline manner her mother was so well-known for. _"Yep, didn't expect a day like this. Fun being surprised!" _she slapped Side Swipe's leg, the young Mech grinned, just happy that he had found a Seeker that didn't seem bothered by him following her around.

Jetfire stretched his arms. _"Yep, don't think 'ol Thrust even thought of the fact that Raptor might have once built that thing."_

"_We were just lucky she knew how to reverse its effects, without the proper equipment." _Red Alert noted. Watching the two bright Seekers that he and Scavenger had healed – darting playfully with each other in the sky above them.

"_Yep, those sloggers are in for a nasty surprise when 'ol Jetfire shows up and kicks their tails again!" _the ace bragged.

Raptor sat quietly, waiting for Optimus to get back with Hotshot. She knew the yellow Mech was still carrying so much hostility for her squadron, some warranted, but most not.

Sideswipe laughed a bit. _"Hey, I'm kinda happy Raptor didn't have the 'proper equipment'! Aren't you?" _ In response the silver tipped femme started another wrestling match with him, both of them rolling away from the group as they laughed.

This broke the group out into lighthearted banter, for indeed, they had all rather enjoyed how it had turned out.

"_Sounds like someone's having a party without me." _Hotshot's voice rang out. They turned to watch as he and Optimus, came striding across the rocky ridge towards them. From the tone of his voice, Hotshot had finally come to accept the whole situation. He looked at Side Swipe chasing Falcon around, the femme obviously encouraging the attentions. _"At least some good came out of it!" _he laughed. _"Side Swipe will finally leave me alone for a while!"_

"_And Falcon will leave us alone for a while as well." _IceOwl noted quietly, causing both groups to break out in laughter at the young pair's expense.

As darkness settled, Raptor and the femmes collected all the driftwood and deadwood from around the small island. Piling it up, IceOwl calmly lit the pile with her with a careful blast from an engine. The Mechs and femmes lounged around the bomb fire, enjoying a rare night of peace and mutual companionship; war stories and theological debates flowing freely in the salt-laden air.

IceOwl sat down next to Raptor. _"Maybe we should tell them." _she whispered. _"The time and mood are right, and they'll eventually find out anyways." _

Raptor shrugged, maybe IceOwl was right, and she had protected the secret in order to protect the family. The Decepticons had targeted them anyways, so perhaps there was now no reason to protect the secret.

**Honesty**

As the flames died to low-burning embers, Raptor began a story. Quickly, all other conversation died, as all the Mechs realized she was actually telling her story. Her story right from the beginning: The terror of a human losing her family, the humor behind a human spark as she learned to fly – to become a Seeker, the decision of conquest, the hard realities of making that decision come to pass, the depression of a human soul losing its humanity, the despair of a soul outliving its perceived lifespan, the desperation of her following Sideways blindly to this dimension, the ultimate betrayal at his hands, her decisions which almost destroyed early Cybertron, causing her hibernation for a millennia… and finally, her awakening at their hands and her oath never to choose sides again.

Silence pervaded the group, as the sheer amount of loss in her life was so evident.

"_This explains a lot of your peculiar behavior." _Red Alert nodded, thinking about her strange dancing and way of thinking.

"_Is this why you built them? So you wouldn't be lonely?" _Side Swipe asked, nodding at the 6 young Seekers.

Raptor looked at her daughters; they all knew she was figuring out how to truly explain them. IceOwl nodded to her to tell.

"_In a sense I built them, but in a deeper sense they were born. They aren't my creations, they are my daughters." _she could see that the Cybertronian Mechs didn't really understand this, though Red Alert was getting a strange look on his face – he knew these Seekers hadn't been animated with Vector Sigma. _"It seems that my human spark is able to join with Cybertronian sparks of this dimension, which causes new hybrid sparks to grow within me. When they are ready to separate, they cause me to have the urge to build, to give them chassis in which to live."_

Red Alert's optics widened, he knew she'd only bonded with two Mechs here. At the same time several other Autobots were thinking the same thing, all looking at Optimus. Who was in deep thought, also seeing the logical path this was taking.

At this point; IceOwl stood up, nodding to Jaguar and Tigress to also stand. _"These are our daughters, Optimus." _Raptor informed him.

He stood, regarding them, uncertain how to react since this situation was unheard of on Cybertron. No Mech was ever truly a father or mother, Vector Sigma was! So this was completely beyond his experience.

Breaking the awkward silence, Jetfire jumped up and slapped his bonded's shoulder. _"Oh sloggers, sir! Ya ain't goin' to kick my engines for doin' your daughter are ya?" _

Blurr stood as well, his keen optics silently regarding IceOwl. _"Sir, I'm guilty of that as well."_

Hoist threw a log onto the fire, laughing. _"Yes sir, guess I'm also guilty. So you'll have to decide which one of us you wanna kick first." _

With this, the group started laughing. Knowing Optimus wouldn't touch any of his men.

As the tension broke, the three amber orbed sisters hugged the uncertain Mech. Jaguar taking Jetfire's cue and joking with him that he'd get used to the idea – just don't expect them to say 'sir' every-other-word.

**Future**

Later, Red Alert followed Raptor down to look for more driftwood. They sat for a while and talked.

"_Are your daughters now carrying hybrid sparks as well?" _he asked her, his tone serious.

Raptor shrugged _"I don't know, they are the First Brood, so there's no telling if there's a maturity period first."_

"_When will you know?"_

She chuckled _"When they start showing an insatiable desire to build."_

He sighed; these were not the answers that he needed. For if the femmes were all carrying hybrid sparks now, the sires would need to protect them.

She looked steadily at him, knowing what he was thinking. _"You won't need to protect us, Red Alert. My experience and the capabilities of the First Brood – will protect our offspring." _she looked at him with soft optics. _"Inside, I know that you Cybertronians will have to leave, to continue your war. I'm afraid that Sideway's master is far different and more powerful than when I faced him."_

"_What is this master?" _Red Alert asked her.

She shrugged sadly. _"He comes in many forms, takes on many names; I do not know what form he is now. All I know is that to defeat him – is to create peace."_

"_Will you come and fight him with us?" _the medic pressed.

She shook her head. _"For me to join the fray, would only strengthen him beyond comprehension.. And now I have other worries, I am mother and may soon be a grandmother. These are my priorities now, they make me whole."_

"_Will you and your daughters ever come to Cybertron?" _he asked; worry that he and the other Autobots, may never meet their possible offspring, filling his voice.

She smiled at him, putting her arm across his shoulders. _"When the Decepticons and Autobots finally find the want for peace within themselves, we will come. For now, we will stay in the womb of mother Earth and gather our strength and knowledge from her."_

_--_

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	11. Joint Mission

Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Harmonic Disruptor**

As the sun peaked its wondrous orb over the edge of the horizon, Raptor stretched in its warming rays. Looking around, she smiled as her soft gaze touched upon the Mechs around her. Seekers and Autobots lounging together in total peace, completely comfortable in each other's company, as it should be.

Unfortunately, it was just a temporary illusion, for the Seekers could not stay with the Autobots, or they would be drawn into the pointless war.

Nodding to her daughters she turned to lie on her belly, basking her solar cells in the strengthening rays. As a unit, the daughters all did the same, knowing that today would be a busy day, and they would need every bit of reserve power they could store.

Raptor looked up as two large Mechs sat down in front of her. Seeing the chassis of Scavenger and Optimus, she figured they were curious as to her ideas of getting rid of the Harmonic Disrupter. Resting her chin on her hands, she looked up at them.

"_I assume that you've been considering the problem we are faced with." _Scavenger stated, suspecting the femme had already come up with a plan.

She grinned. _"Since it's a problem of my original making, yes I have." _she rubbed her optics as if just waking up. "_It seems to be a problem most suited for aerial recon, and depending on how they've got things set up, sabotage may be the way to go."_

Tigress and Jaguar chuckled as they heard her, both enjoying the thought of a little recon and sabotage fun.

Optimus looked at her long and hard. Sneaking around and blowing things up, was not the way Autobots normally did things. They faced things head-on. _"You might want to look at other options, Raptor." _he advised.

She chuckled. _"Prime, you are so terribly predictable, so reactive. Many missions are best accomplished through Stealth, not face-to-face confrontation."_

Both Scavenger and Optimus were taken aback by her straightforwardness in saying that Prime's tactics weren't the right tactics for this mission. No one had ever dared to question the red Mech much, much less do it with a chuckle.

Raptor looked from Mech-to-Mech, amusement in her optics. _"If you plan things just right, then one single human special ops can do more damage than a whole squadron of Autobots. It's all in the planning and training – looking at all the angles, instead of just the obvious one. This has always been the problem with you Cybertronians; you seem to only think of things in black-and-white. Fortunately, I've never had that problem." _she winked at them, reminding them that her spark was human.

Optimus nodded to her. _"So what is your plan of action?" _

She yawned, stretching lazily in her feline manner. _"A wise Commander always starts with good recon, and then decides the course of action once they truly know what they face. So my two recon wings will be heading out shortly."_

The red Mech didn't like the thought of all of his daughters going out on this dangerous recon mission without backup. _"Let me send Jetfire with you."_

Tigress snorted. _"He'd blow our cover faster than the Hornets would!" _she looked at Raptor, as her mother gave her 'the look'. _"Oops – with much respect COMMANDERS, Jetfire is in no way suited for this mission."_

Jaguar, Jacket and Wasp were rocking in silent laughter; for although the femmes obeyed Raptor to the tee, they weren't used to the rather stupid Sir-this and Sir-that, which the Autobots seemed to always be doing.

"_They do have a point, sir;" _Blurr agreed, as he walked up with IceOwl.

Raptor sat up, looking at Prime optic-to-optic. _"This is precisely what I and our daughters are designed for – stealth, recon, first strike, sabotage, and swift aerial combat. Our tactics are as hard for a tough ground Mech to really understand – as the tactics of face-to-face, beat each other silly until you can't fight anymore – are for us to understand."_

Yellow Jacket snickered. _"Ya, um Sir – we specialize in the 'ol hit 'em hard and run like hell tactics."_

"_Works pretty good." _Jaguar chimed in. _"um, Sir.." _grinning at her sire, as she made it obvious that 'sir' wasn't really in her vocabulary.

Blurr truly felt like rolling his optics, although these femmes were obviously very disciplined during their missions, they were a rather unruly bunch in their 'off time'. Extremely opinionated, and didn't care who they were debating with. With the exception of the rather quiet IceOwl, with whom he was beginning to get acquainted with.

"_Obviously, you are going to do it your way, with little regard as to if we agree with it;" _Blurr noted dryly.

Raptor looked slyly at the soldier. _"Yes, you sum it up so nicely Blurr."_

"_And we are stuck here, waiting for your return." _Scavenger bluntly added. Knowing that without the warp drive back at the base, only Jetfire could get them off this island, and that would be a very slow trip back.

She smiled warmly. _"Until we destroy the Harmonic Disrupter, it's the safest place for you boys. Would hate to see you end up in the same condition we found you."_

The Autobots grudgingly knew she was right, but none of them would openly admit it. Raptor spoke quietly with her 'third line' wing, making sure they knew to keep an eye on Jetfire, and not to let him leave the island until Raptor called for aerial backup. Then the two stealth wings lifted off, circling the island in a formation flyby. Winking out of sight as they teleported across the ocean.

"_Damn femme can make you feel like a useless newbie!" _Hotshot snorted, as he looked out over the confining water surrounding them.

The other Autobots nodded their agreement.

**Recon**

In full cloak mode, the two wings split up; with Raptor and IceOwl checking out the Autobots base, Jaguar and Tigress checking out the lunar base.

Sure enough, the Decepticon location near the Autobot base was soon discovered. Thrust, Cyclonus and Demolisher guarded the Harmonic Disrupter; while the other Decepticons had finally decided to enter the Autobots base.

IceOwl radioed the other wing, changing their orders to come and prowl a 50 mile radius around their location. Just in case she and Raptor needed emergency backup. In full cloak, she and Raptor set down and listened in on the Decepticons.

"_Megatron says the Autobots are all gone!" _Demolisher stammered, listening to the ranting and raving of his leader over the radio. _"Where'd they go? I thought you said they couldn't move when you hit 'em with this thing?"_

Thrust glared at him. _"Obviously, someone else is involved. Probably Starscream's old play toy."_

Cyclonus snickered. _"He, he. I hope that freagin' femme does show up.. he, he. Give her a taste of a real Mech!" _

The two Seekers silently chuckled at his empty boasts. Jaguar sent Raptor ground radar images of the inside of the Autobot base. Three Mechs were in the control center, most likely Megatron, Starscream and Wheeljack – trying to use the Autobots own computer to find them. Which is precisely why the femmes had teleported the bots – not used the warp drive!

Coming up with a quick plan, which would make both Autobots and femmes relatively happy, she sent new orders to her third line wing, to forward to the Autobots. Contacting Jaguar and Tigress she ordered a missile strike, putting a laser lock on the Harmonic Disrupter.

Swiftly, she and IceOwl teleported into the Autobot base, keeping their cloaking engaged. IceOwl went directly to the warp drive, plugging in the coordinates for the Autobots location, while Raptor snuck up to where the three cons were.

Suddenly, Demolisher was calling Megatron as the missiles hit his location. The Harmonic Disruptor being destroyed as four missiles hit it simultaneously. Megatron whirled around in anger, beginning to cuss about insubordinate subordinates! Just then, a femme appeared in the doorway, leaning casually against it and chuckling at them.

"_Raptor?" _Starscream stammered, surprised at her sudden appearance.

Megatron looked at her curiously, an arrogant smile crossing his façade. _"Ah, so I finally meet the mysterious 'Raptor', whom has given me so much trouble as of late. It's a pity that you are so foolish as to come here alone."_

The gray/green Seeker cocked her head in amusement. _"Do you really think such a small number of cons would make me shake in my thrusters?" _

He laughed. _"You are as boastful as your little boyfriend here; I do hope you can back up your boasts better than he." _

Starscream glared silently at Megatron, but didn't dare face him again.

Her optics gleamed. _"Oh, I can always back up what I say. Although I must say, it's a pity that Starscream has made the mistake of rejoining your ranks." _She could see regret in Starscream's stance, but he hid it from the powerful ground Mech.

Megatron glared at the femme. His large frame towering over her, but she still seemed totally unconcerned about his threats. _"Perhaps you'd care to join us? To rejoin with your little boyfriend here?" _he mentioned. _"I can forgive a loyal soldier for their previous actions."_

Her musical laughter filled the room. _"That's an interesting offer, Megatron. But there are two problems: one, I take orders from no one – and –" _she shifted her gaze, her optics boring into Starscream's, then continued._ " - two, I could never forgive you for your previous actions against my daughters." _Shifting her gaze back to Megatron,she met him optic-to-optic, an unspoken challenge.

Out of the corner of her optics, she could see Starscream shifting uncomfortably. _Maybe he'll eventually figure it out. _She thought to herself.

Swiftly, Megatron lunged at her; only to find her as insubstantial as the wind. _"A slaggin' hologram!" _he roared. _"Obviously, you are too cowardly to face me!"_

Her laughter again filled the room. _"No, I'm in this room; you are just too blind to see me." S_uddenly, she was in his face again, but shifted her gaze briefly to Starscream again. _"I give you one warning only, never touch another one of my children!" _kicking at the powerful con leader, she again disappeared in teleport before the strong ground Mech could grab her.

Spinning around as he cursed her, Megatron didn't notice that the door had opened. Until Starscream whipped out his sword and yelled _"Autobots!". _The room suddenly filling with the six of the Autobots they had tried to put out of commission.

Outside of the mountain, Yellow Jacket, Wasp, Falcon and Jetfire were having a blast chasing the three cons out of the area. They joked with each other as they tortured Demolisher's backside with laser fire, as he made his rather hasty, retreat. Cyclonus was a little more fun, as he was a bonified nut case, willing trying to take them all on. Finally, Jetfire knocked him out of the sky with a well-aimed shot at his rotors. Thrust tried to take the easy way out, mumbling in frustration as he realized that all three of the Seekers could also teleport.

When the other two Seekers banked around and joined the fun, the cons all disappeared as they were warped away.

**Parting Ways**

After the Autobots had cleared the Decepticons out of their base, they began to wonder where Raptor was. All the other Seekers were accounted for, and IceOwl had informed them that her mother had gone to the control room at the start of the mission.

They searched and searched, but still couldn't find her.

"_Sir, do you think Megatron somehow got his hands on her?" _Side Swipe asked.

Tigress and Jaguar looked at each other. _"If he did, you'd better start prayin' for the Mech!" _Jaguar began.

Her twin snorted. _"Because if Mom doesn't destroy their base – we surely will!"_

Laughter filled the air. _"I'm glad to see my daughters have faith in me." _Raptor's voice chimed. Then she disengaged her cloaking and appeared above them, standing upside down on the ceiling, the electromagnets engaged in her thrusters.

As she leaped down, she flipped – agile as a cat – and landed lightly on her thrusters. Jaguar, Falcon and Tigress tackled her; threatening to whoop her if she ever scared them like that again. In the pile of her daughters, Raptor looked happily up at the amused Mechs. A peaceful expression glimmering in her optics, she took Red Alert's offered hand and got up. Several Mechs slapped her on her back.

"_Well, I've got to hand it to you. The mission went very smoothly." _Scavenger said, shaking her hand.

Optimus came up to her, but before he could say anything, she put a finger lightly across his mask. _"Don't keep asking me the same thing, Prime. I'm getting tired of saying no all the time." _

Calmly, he removed her hand, no one seeing the smile behind his mask. _"I was just going to ask if you were now 'expecting' again." _his voice was serious.

She shrugged. _"Won't know until I get the urge to build again."_

Grabbing her arm, the red Mech pulled her close, locking her optics with his. _"I just have one request; build a few semis this time." _

Everyone laughed, realizing he was half-way serious, and half-way joking. But as the femmes departed, most of the Mechs found themselves looking at each other and wondering – if indeed – the femmes were now all 'expecting'.

_**Footnote: **This story now ends. The next saga in the timeline of these Seekers - begins in my **'Bringing the Fallen Home'** story. Were all the daughters 'expecting'? Was Raptor again carrying more of Prime's hybrid-sparks? Will the Autobots ever see these Seekers again? - the answers can be found in the next saga._

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_Please review.._


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